


The Inside

by beccerslynnfics



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26275981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beccerslynnfics/pseuds/beccerslynnfics
Summary: *THIS IS A REPOST FROM AN OLD ACCOUNT ON ANOTHER WEBSITE AND IS VERY OLD (but I still love it okay?)* This fic takes place following the events of Kingdom Hearts II. Sora has defeated Organization XIII. He's been home for a month. One day he falls asleep on the beach, but won't wake up. He's been having some nightmares about Ventus and Vanitas, could that have something to do with this?
Relationships: Kairi & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> One mini-spoiler! Some readers might assume Xion should play an active role in this story but at the time I wrote it (many years ago) I hadn't played Days and did not really understand Xion's relationship to Sora in its full capacity. If I were to rewrite it, I would definitely include her!

It was a quiet morning on Destiny Islands. The cool breeze and the bright sun created a lazy, relaxing atmosphere. It had been about a month since Sora had woken up, defeated Organization XIII, and found Kairi and Riku again. He was happy to be home, and was currently relaxing on the beach, letting the water on the shoreline splash against his toes.

"Sora! You're so lazy! Come help me get some coconuts from the trees!" Kairi shouted at him, scaring him out of his trance.

"What do you need coconuts for?" Sora asked, getting up with a groan and slowly making his way to Kairi.

"I'm making something special for my 'dad', just to thank him for taking me in back when we were kids. I never had time to do things like this before, y'know, with all the adventure planning and everything with you and the Keyblade."

As she said this, Sora summoned the Keyblade. He threw it at a coconut dangling from the branches of a nearby tall palm tree. The coconut fell, landing near Kairi's feet, as the Keyblade reappeared in his hand.

"How many do you need?"

"Just one's fine for now. Thanks, Sora." Kairi picked up the coconut at her feet. She smiled, then turned and headed over to the paopu tree and sat down.

Sora watched her working, bent over her project in concentration. He then returned to his spot on the beach, the Keyblade vanishing from his hand. As the minutes passed, he found himself slipping into sleep. Soon enough, he was out cold.

A few hours passed, then Riku appeared at the dock. He had just rowed over from the mainland and was tying his boat up. After the boat was securely tied, he passed Sora on the beach and headed towards Kairi.

"Hi, Riku!" Kairi waved at him as he approached. She hid her project beneath a paopu branch, then moved over on the trunk of the tree to create a space for Riku.

As he sat down he asked, "Why can't I see what you're working on? It's a surprise for your 'dad', not me."

"I don't want you blabbing all about it to him. I want the surprise to remain a SURPRISE."

"Okay, fine. So, what have you and Sora been up to? Has he been sleeping all day?"

"Yes, but I don't blame him. He hasn't been getting much sleep lately. On the nights we sleep on the island, I've heard him talking in his sleep. He's been having nightmares. One night, about a week after we all came back, he was talking so much that I could actually understand what was happening in his dream. Someone named Ventus was telling him about someone named Vanitas and about people named Aqua and Terra. They were talking about what happened to Ventus and those other people, and about how Sora became wielder of the Keyblade."

Riku jumped up at hearing this. He knew exactly what Kairi was talking about, and remembered it vividly. That night, so long ago, when Ventus came to Sora's heart. Sora had asked Riku what to do, and he had said to let him in. Later, Sora had told him all of Ventus's story.

"Ventus is part of Sora's heart," Riku tried to explain, "so he can talk to Sora. They were talking in his dream, I guess."

"I think I get it," Kairi said. She stood up, then said, "Sora's slept for a pretty long time. I think it's time for me to wake him up." She jumped off the platform where the paopu tree was and jogged over to Sora.

As she knelt down beside him, she noticed how deeply asleep he was. His breathing was heavy and he was completely still. It was unusual for him to be so deeply asleep in the middle of the day. She was almost afraid to wake him, this was the best sleep he'd gotten since his year-long memory retrieval.

"Hey, Sora. Wake up." She whispered into his ear, softly pushing his shoulder. He didn't respond. "Sora, wake up." She said a bit louder, giving him a small shove. Still, nothing. "Sora, WAKE UP!" She screamed, but his eyes remained closed, breathing remained deep.

She stared at his face for a moment, confounded about what was happening. A shadow passed over him, and she looked up. Riku stood above them, looking down upon Sora.

"Something's wrong with him." Riku said, and Kairi burst into tears.


	2. Chapter 2

Kairi woke up to bright sunlight streaming into her eyes. She looked over at her hand, which was clasping Sora's when she had fallen asleep hours before. Now, Sora was gone. She stood up, stretched, and shook the sand out of her fiery red hair.

"Sora! Are you awake?" Kairi called out to the seashore around her. She was so excited that Sora was okay. After she had spent a good half an hour crying, she had laid down next to Sora on the beach and grabbed his hand. She prayed over and over again that he would wake up, until she faded out of consciousness herself. Then, she woke up to no one. A moment passed, then Riku popped his head out from the door of the Seaside Shack.

"Sorry to get your hopes up," he said, "but Sora's not up. I moved him in here and put him on a kind of makeshift bed. I thought it would be a good idea, because I heard there was gonna be a storm tonight. I don't think Sora'd be very happy if we left him outside during that."

The excited smile plastered across Kairi's face shattered, leaving only a firm line where she was biting her lip. "Oh, okay... Good idea. But couldn't we just take him back to the mainland and put him in his own bed?"

"I thought about that, but I don't think Sora's parents need to know what's happening to him. They've already had two years worth of heartache for him, they don't need more now. Let's just pretend that we're hanging out on the island for the night, like we used to do."

"You're right. Sora's parents have spent too long worrying." Kairi said as she followed Riku into the Seaside Shack. Sora was in the corner of the small room, still sound asleep and not moving at all. She could barely even tell if he was breathing. The makeshift bed Riku had mentioned seemed to be a rope hammock tied to two wooden panels in the wall.

As Kairi walked over to Sora, Riku dragged two wooden barrels over to them and sat down on one. He motioned for Kairi to sit on the other. She did, and then for a few gloomy minutes they both stared down at Sora's face, measuring his breathing out of pure boredom.

After about ten minutes, Kairi reached down and clasped Sora's hand in hers, then Riku's in her other. "I'm scared," she whispered. "What if he never wakes up? What if he becomes like the boy in his dreams? Asleep for eternity?" With each word her voice rose higher, until it became a trembling scream. She buried her face into Riku's shoulder and began to sob uncontrollably.

"Kairi, relax," Riku tried to comfort her. "That's not going to happen. I don't know what's going on, but we're going to figure it out. Sora's not ending up like Ventus, and Ventus isn't ending up like Ventus either, if that makes any sense."

"What?" Kairi confusedly asked, calming herself down and wiping away the last of her tears.

"Sora is going to help Ventus and his friends. He was planning on leaving after spending a few weeks here, with you and me. It's going to be another long trip, so he wanted some time with us. King Mickey thinks that Sora may be able to wake Ventus up. Together, they would be able to find Aqua and Terra."

"How come you or Sora didn't tell me?"

"Sora wanted you to enjoy our time together without worrying about it. He wanted our last memories of each other, for a while, to be happy ones."

"Oh." Kairi was shocked at hearing this. She couldn't believe that Sora was that worried about her happiness. "Now all of his efforts are for nothing."

"Don't think that way. He'll get better, we'll figure out what's going on. He'll wake up and spend his remaining time having fun with us. I promise. If I can't keep my promise to you, I'll take Sora's place in trying to save Ventus and his friends."

"What if you can't help in any way?"

"Then I'll come home. If Sora's still asleep when I come back, we'll take him to Disney Castle, where King Mickey is, and see if he can help him." Riku let go of Kairi's hand and stood up. "You must be hungry by now, I'll go find something for us to eat."

With that said, he turned and left the Shack, leaving Kairi in tears over Sora.


	3. Chapter 3

"Kairi!" Riku screamed as he ran into the Seaside Shack, Kairi jolting awake at the sound of his voice. It seemed now that all she ever did was fall asleep while watching over Sora's sleeping body. A few days had passed, still with no signs of Sora waking up. "Donald and Goofy are here! I think they're planning on starting the mission right now!"

"What?" Kairi jumped up from her perch on the barrel and slipped past Riku. She looked out the doorway, and, sure enough, their Gummi Ship was descending onto the beach. She could see Goofy waving from the window.

"Hey Kairi! Hey Riku!" Goofy said as the pair approached. "Gwarsh, where's Sora?"

Kairi and Riku exchanged nervous glances for a moment, then Kairi managed to stammer, "He's in the Seaside Shack..."

"Thanks, Kairi!" Donald squawked as he and Goofy rushed inside.

"Wait!" Riku shouted, running to the door of the Shack with Kairi tailing behind him. "There's something wr-"

"Sora! Sora! Wake up! Stop sleeping on the job!" Donald yelped as he climbed on top of Sora and started jumping on him. Riku and Kairi just stood, stuck to the spot, as Goofy joined Donald in trying to wake Sora up by shouting into his ear.

"Gwarsh, Sora sure is a heavy sleeper," Goofy said after a moment, stopping his attempts to wake him up, Donald stopping as well.

Finally, Kairi mustered up the capacity to speak. "He's not going to wake up, guys... There's something wrong with him."

The warm smiles glued in place on the faces of the two friends fell, leaving confused frowns in their places. After a few minutes of awkward silence, the only sound being Sora's sleep-filled breathing, Donald spoke.

"So... What happened?" He said nervously, almost as if he didn't want to know the answer.

"Come sit down, we'll tell you." Riku said, motioning to the small barrels on the other side of the room. And so, Riku and Kairi began to tell the story, each with information from their own perspective, until Donald and Goofy were informed.

After the story had been told, Donald spoke up. "I may be able to help." He summoned his Mage's Staff. "We did a little bit of training while Sora was here, and I learned some new magic spells. I think I can use one of them to enter Sora's subconscious and see if anything is happening inside his head. The problem is that I can't use it on myself. Does anyone else want to travel deep into Sora's subconscious?"

"I will," Kairi softly spoke, timidly raising her hand as if not sure that anyone had heard her speak. "I want to help Sora in any way I can."

"You know, this might be dangerous," Riku looked unsure of Kairi's decision. "Are you sure you want to find what's causing this to happen to Sora? Maybe I should go instead."

"No," She said, more confidently speaking this time. "I want to do this."

"Alright then!" Donald exclaimed, clapping his hand against his staff. " I'm not exactly sure what will happen to you once you're inside Sora's head. I also can't guarantee that his subconscious will be the only part of his brain functioning, he may be fully conscious, just not awake."

"Is that possible?" Riku asked, a skeptical look on his face.

"I'm not sure," Donald replied. "Anyway, I do know what will happen to you, Kairi, in entering his mind. When I cast the spell, your body will disappear, you will physically be inside Sora's mind. Kind of like Namine and Roxas in you and Sora, but slightly different. Are you ready?"

"Yes...But how will I come back?"

"I was just going to mention that. Take this," He handed her a small silver charm bracelet. There was one charm on it, in the shape of the Mage's Staff. "Put it on your wrist. When you're ready to come back, just rip the staff charm off of the bracelet. It will let me know that you're ready. Now, stand perfectly still."

Kairi did as she was told, tightening her hands into fists. Donald pointed his staff at her while chanting repeatedly, _"Senzai ishiki o nyūryoku shimasu."_ After about three repeats of the same words, he pointed his staff towards Sora, again repeating the words three times. There was a flash of light, then Kairi saw nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing Kairi saw was not something normally found in the subconscious of the mind, or anywhere inside the brain. A pair of shoes. The next thing was a pair of pants. As she sat up, the figure in front of her started coming into view.

"Hey, Kairi." A hand was offered to her, which she thankfully accepted, and she was pulled up to a standing position.

"Roxas?"

"Why are you so surprised to see me? We're inside Sora after all, that's kinda where I 'live'."

"Oh, right... Where, exactly, are we?"

"We're, well... Explaining this is complicated. We are in Sora's subconscious, I guess, but we're also... Oh, never mind. Let's just go with the subconscious thing."

While Roxas was explaining, Kairi got a good look at their surroundings. They were standing on the bottom few steps of what looked like floating stairs. The bottom step was connected to a giant pillar, the surface covered with a stained glass-like mural thing. From the parts of it that she could see, it appeared to be Sora, wielding the Keyblade with his eyes closed, surrounded by small pictures in circles. She spotted Riku's face and her own face in the group. She turned around to see what was at the top of the stairs, but they ended in blackness, which was also surrounding everything else.

"What were you gonna say?" Kairi asked, realizing that he had stopped talking. "After explaining where we are, I mean."

"It's nothing, really. Not important right now."

"No! Tell me! I wanna know what this place really is, like why Sora's subconscious looks like this." She gestured to the surrounding area with a wide arm swing.

"Well, the name of this particular place is 'Dive to the Heart'. You can only be here when you're asleep. In a way, I'm asleep, and you are too, kinda. My physical body is 'asleep' because Sora is out in the world again. It's kinda similar with you, your physical body is 'asleep' while you're here. The reason why Sora is asleep is because he's here too, fighting, although his physical body is still in existence."

As he said this, Kairi noticed something behind his shoulder. Some kind of commotion. There were two figures, one with spiky hair, and it looked as if they were battling... with massive keys... Keyblades.

"Sora!" She screamed, about to slip past Roxas and bolt to Sora. She didn't get the chance before Roxas grabbed her arm.

"Hey! Hold on!" He said, tightening his grip to keep her in place. "You'll run into the barrier."

"What? What barrier?" Kairi pulled her arm away from Roxas's firm grasp and reached out in front of her. Her hand flattened on something she couldn't see. She moved her hand around, grasping for an opening, but finding none. In defeat, she folded her arms across her chest. "What's going on? Who is Sora fighting and why are they fighting?"

"Let me start from the beginning, Kairi. Have you heard of someone called Ventus?"

"Yeah... Sora knows him. Riku said he was part of Sora's heart or something."

"Good. What about Vanitas, have you heard of him?"

"Yes, I heard about him from some of the dreams Sora talked out loud in."

"Well, when Sora was a kid, before I existed, Ventus came to stay in his heart. His physical body is asleep, so he came to Sora and went to the Dive to the Heart. The reason why he's asleep and with Sora is because a man called Xehanort sent Vanitas to destroy him. Ventus is... special, and when he joins with Vanitas and Xehanort uses their power together, evil can erupt throughout all of the worlds. Vanitas tried to join with him, and almost succeeded, but Ventus was called back to the light.

"The only way for him to escape Vanitas and save everything was to defeat him in battle and fall asleep for a really, really long time. He needed somewhere safe to be, so he came to Sora. Xehanort never stopped searching for Ventus's power, so he sent Vanitas after Ventus. He came into Sora and found Ventus at the Dive to the Heart.

"Ventus and I got to know each other, both being inside Sora, and when Vanitas came along, we fought him together. But he overpowered us and took Ventus. I had to fight Vanitas alone, while he was fighting Ventus inside himself. I knew I couldn't beat him, and I was loosing badly, so I called Sora to come and fight. I'm glad I did, because just as Sora came to the Dive to the Heart, I was defeated by Vanitas and lost consciousness. Sora took my place in a second. When I woke up, they were fighting like they had been for hours. "

Kairi stood still for a long time, trying to process the humongous amount of information she had just been told, and noticing that Roxas's part of the story was true. He had gashes and bruises all over his arms, face, and neck. She was almost in shock.

"Long explanation..." She finally breathed.


	5. Chapter 5

Kairi sat, feet spread out in front of her, on the cold marble step, watching Sora and Vanitas battle with wide eyes. Roxas was leaning his head on her shoulder, fast asleep and drooling a little, but Kairi didn't notice. Her eyes were glued to the battle like she was watching an action movie.

Sora had been fighting Vanitas for hours, or so it seemed to Kairi. They both were covered in blood and sweat, pools of it collecting at their feet. Their breath was heavily labored, and each looked dreadfully tired. Well, Vanitas seemed tired by his laggy movements, but his facial expressions were hidden by his helmet.

Kairi was pulled away from the fight by the feeling of arms being wrapped around her in a hug. Roxas breathed warmly on her neck, sending uncomfortable tremors down her spine.

"Nami...neeeeee," he murmured, and began to caress her chin. He was obviously dreaming, fantasizing about Namine as Kairi hoped Sora did about her (as much as she was ashamed to admit, even to herself). Even though Roxas pictured Kairi as Namine in his dream, she found the situation awkward and scooted to the other end of the step. Roxas fell flat on his face and startled himself into consciousness.

"Ow!" Roxas sat up, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "How'd I end up on the ground?" He looked at Kairi, a deep red slowly creeping across his cheeks, as his dream came bursting vividly into his consciousness. "Um... Was I, like, hugging you?"

"Yeah," Kairi said as she stifled a laugh. "You also caressed."

The scarlet tint to Roxas's cheeks spread to his whole face. "Uh, sorry."

_**THUMP!** _

Kairi and Roxas both jumped as the loud noise brought their attention back to the fight. Sora had been slammed up against the invisible barrier on the other side of the mosaic floor, and Vanitas was pinning him there with the blade of his weapon. They both looked beat up, but Vanitas had the advantage.

As Sora was struggling to keep the key from cutting into his neck, Kairi caught his eye over Vanitas's shoulder. "Kairi!" The expression on his face had turned from grim to awestruck in seconds. She could tell he wanted to say more, but Vanitas had seen that she was there too. He pushed the blade deeper into Sora's neck, making sure he couldn't say any more.

"Roxas!" Kairi turned to him, still keeping an eye on the fight. "You have to go help him! How do we get through?"

"I can't! I don't even know how I got onto this side of the barrier! I passed out, remember? I woke up on this side!"

Kairi shifted her attention back towards the fight. "Sora! You can't let him beat you! Ventus is counting on you!" She wasn't sure if he could hear her, but he seemed to get the point because he finally let go of Vanitas's blade and attacked with his own.

Sora slipped his Keyblade under Vanitas's and pushed up, sending Vanitas tumbling backward. He had just enough time to grab his Keyblade and fling it over his head before Sora's blade came crashing down on him. Both put all their strength into pushing each other down. Vanitas worked his way into a standing position, then no one had the advantage. They stood like that for minutes, until the strain was too much for them both. They broke off the stance and retreated to separate corners to catch their breath.

Vanitas was the first to regain some energy and make a move. He charged toward Sora, Keyblade forward. Sora saw him coming and positioned his Keyblade in a similar way, starting to charge forward as well. The two met in a collision of sparks, metal on metal. The contradicting presences of light and dark radiating off of the two blades were equally overpowering, and the interaction of the two on such a high level sent both Sora and Vanitas flying backward. Each boy hit the barrier on opposite sides of the mosaic with a deafening _**CRACK!**_ and slid down into a heap, both unconscious.

Kairi pounded her fists against the barrier, screaming "Sora! Sora!" at the top of her lungs. Roxas tried to restrain her, saying that screaming wasn't going to help. She gave up hope and slumped down onto the step, while Roxas awkwardly tried to comfort her.

Kairi couldn't tell if it was anxiety, adrenaline, or lack of sleep (Due to the constant care for Sora the last few days) but she started to notice a blurry haze in her vision. She studied her hands to clarify that it wasn't just her imagination, which it wasn't, then noticed Donald's bracelet. The staff charm was gone! But where was it? Then she saw it, lying on the ground next to where the barrier most likely was.

"It must have fallen off when I was pounding on the barrier," She whispered, as the blurriness started to overwhelm her. She looked up at Sora's unconscious body, lying on the cold floor, as silent tears fell. "Goodbye, Sora. Fight for me..."

The last thing she saw before blackness was that dazzling pair of blue eyes opening, and the last thing she heard was a voice screaming "Kairi!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Kairi!" She jolted awake at the scream of her name.

"Sora!" She gasped. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to her surroundings, then she realised. The scream was not Sora's, and it wasn't a scream. She was back in the Seaside Shack. She felt the warmth of another body close to her, but this was not Sora's body. Riku was kneeling on the floor next to her, cradling her in his arms.

"Kairi, what happened? You just appeared on the ground a few seconds ago." He released her and helped her to her feet. She turned to survey the room, taking in Donald and Goofy sitting timidly on two barrels, the Mage's Staff leaning against the wall (kept out in case of emergency), a slightly skewed imprint of her own body in the sand, and Sora. Sleeping as peacefully as how she had left him, but something had changed.

"Riku, what happened to him? What did you do to him?!" She ran to Sora's side and gripped his hand tightly. His body was covered in bruises, scrapes, cuts, welts, and all manner of injury. Just like the one fighting for his life inside.

"We didn't do anything to him. We're his friends, Kairi. Why would we? Just calm down."

"You're lying! If you're telling the truth, then why is he covered in blood?!"

"Think, Kairi. We wouldn't do that to him. The three of us were just sitting on those barrels, waiting for you to come back, when weird stuff started happening to him. Cuts formed on his skin, like invisible claws were tearing at him or something. Bruises bloomed, deep gashes formed and gushed blood, and we heard him scream just before you appeared. I think he said your name."

Kairi looked down at the boy's peaceful face, imagining it twist into a scream of her name. It wasn't hard, as she had seen it happen a moment ago. Tears began to fall as she placed her other hand on top of his and knelt down beside him. "He did. Because the Sora inside did."

"Are you saying the Sora out here is exactly the same as the Sora in there?" Riku came up beside her and jabbed the side of Sora's head. "I told you we didn't do it. So, these injuries are from fighting someone?"

Kairi sniffed back the rest of her tears and wiped away the ones that escaped. "Yes, sorry I blamed you, and yes."

"That makes sense!" Donald squawked, coming up behind them. They both jumped. "Can you describe your experience exactly?"

"What?" Both Riku and Kairi said in unison. The way Donald talked always took a long time to understand.

 _ **"Can you describe your experience exactly?!**_ Gosh, it's not like I can't speak."

"Oh. Yeah."

Kairi led the way to the wooden barrels, where Goofy still sat, a slightly bewildered look on his face, and began to explain waking up to the sight of a pair of shoes.

After her story was finished, Kairi stood and walked to Sora's side. She kept quiet to let Riku and the others process the horrific story. She kneeled and gripped his hand, silently starting to cry again.

"Kairi," Riku kneeled down next to her. "I know that this is pretty traumatic for you, but we're gonna figure this out. We were all there for each other those first two years that all this weird stuff happened, and we're here for Sora now. We're gonna figure out how to stop him from getting hurt, and save Ventus too."

"I know. I just want to go back, to be with him."

"You should go home and sleep, Kai. You've been up for days. C'mon." He stood and pulled her to her feet. "To make it fair, I'll go home too. Donald and Goofy can take care of Sora. Right, guys?"

"BWUAHHHH!" Donald had been quietly snoring, head up against the wall. The increase in Riku's voice sent him sprawling to the floor. "Ri-right!"

Kairi glared at Donald for making her leave Sora's side. But Riku was right, she could barely keep her eyes open. As she followed Riku out of the Seaside Shack, into the dark night, she turned and whispered, "I'll see you tomorrow, Sora. You'll see me too, I promise."

The walk across the beach and to the boat dock was one of stony silence. Neither Kairi nor Riku felt like talking, even about things related to their melancholy mood. As they pulled away from the shore in their two small boats, Kairi stared back at the other small boat bobbing in the shallow water. Sora's boat. She pictured him running after them, scrambling into it, and rowing as fast as he could to catch up to them. But he wasn't doing that. He wasn't even moving.

As they pulled up to the mainland shore, Riku jumped out and pulled the two boats higher up on the sand, out of the tide's reach. Kairi stepped onto the shore and they shifted their direction to the small path leading into town. Kairi wasn't paying attention as she was walking, so she tripped on numerous forms of paraphernalia that are found on the ground. Riku watched her stumble in amusement, and after a particularly large trip, he burst out laughing.

"How can you laugh at a time like this?! It's not even funny! You know why I keep tripping, and I'm surprised you're not tripping yourself!"

"Hahaha. Relax Kairi! We need to laugh at times like these. It reminds us that there's still hope."

"Yeah, well, I don't think it's nice to laugh at the expense of others."

"Kairi, it's not that big a deal. I think this whole experience sold you a ticket for the crazy train."

"What does that mean?! Whatever." She folded her arms and started walking faster.

Riku followed, head bowed down. Kairi really was taking this too seriously. If Sora didn't pull through this, whatever it was, she would fall apart. And if she fell apart, Riku would too. He wouldn't have anyone, and the darkness would overtake him. He was sure of it. Then _**BAM!**_ The dirt didn't taste good.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Riku! How do you like it now? It's not so fun getting laughed at. And you actually fell!" The look on Kairi's face as she watched him get up was priceless. She was laughing so hard she was beginning to cry. He spit the muddy dirt out of his mouth and brushed off his clothes. But he wasn't mad.

"See Kairi? Look at yourself, you're practically dying! Now don't you feel a little better?"

She stopped and wiped her eyes. "Yeah, I guess so. Thanks for trying to cheer me up with that stunt."

"Oh, I wasn't trying."

"What? You honestly tripped on accident?"

"Yeah. I was thinking pretty hard after what you said. I got distracted."

"Were you thinking about Sora?"

"A little bit. More about you, like how much you care about him and how if he were gone you'd be a wreck."

"I would not."

"Yes you would."

"Maybe a little, but I'd still have you."

"Maybe not."

At this Kairi stopped and stared. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing. C'mon, we're here. See you tomorrow."

"Riku-"

"See ya." He left Kairi standing in front of her house, watching him walk away with a bewildered expression. As he became a tiny speck, she turned and walked into the house. All the lights were off, so the mayor and his wife were most likely asleep. She slipped into her room, making sure the door closed quietly.

Everything was exactly the way she left it a few days ago. The dresser and her mirror to her left were covered in clothes: hanging out of the drawers and off the higher rim of the mirror. All of her day to day necessities were splayed across the top of her dresser as well: hair ties, hair brush, curling iron (because she HAD to have been born with pin-straight hair naturally), lip gloss, mascara, and her favorite thing: a small strand of beautiful seashells. She didn't use this on a day to day basis, but she liked to keep it there so she knew where it was. She liked to tie it in her hair on special occasions. Sora had given it to her when they were kids, as a "Welcome to Destiny Islands!" type thing. They had been exploring on the beach when he found all of them, then put them all together on the strand the next day.

This happy thought turned sour as the present day came hurtling back. She turned to her right to quickly survey the rest of the room: the bookcase, desk, and the small closet. Then she trudged over to her queen sized bed on the far wall. The mayor was so generous to her. He didn't have to take her in, let alone give her a queen sized bed. She slumped down on the soft blanket, then realized she was still fully dressed, shoes and all.

After slipping into some warm pjs, she crawled under the covers and buried her head under the pillow. After the heat of the pillow blocking the room's air became too much, she shifted her head to the mattress and chucked the pillow at her bedroom door. That was when she noticed how wet the mattress was. She realized that she had been crying. How could she not notice she was crying?


	7. Chapter 7

The daylight broke through the shades on Kairi's window, blinding her as she opened her eyes. She sat up in bed and scraped her hair away from her face. Her pillow was still on the ground in front of the door.

After showering and getting dressed, she opened the door to the mayor's room a tiny bit. They were still sleeping. Good. She wouldn't have to deal with them on the way out. She closed the door as quietly as she could, then bolted out the front door.

Riku was obviously on his way to, or at, the island already. His boat wasn't on the shore anymore.

"How long ago did he go?" Kairi asked herself as she clambered into the boat. "It's really early, like 6:30, so he couldn't have gone long ago."

"Hey! Kairi! Where are you going? The island?" Selphie came skipping toward her on the shore. "We have school today! It's Monday! It's our first day of the year! You can't ditch!"

"Sorry, Selphie. I have to go. Riku and Sora aren't coming either." Riku and Kairi hadn't told anyone what was going on, not even the others who used to hang out on the island. No one went over there anymore, except for Sora, Riku, and Kairi, so no one would be able to find out.

"I didn't expect them to be coming to school! They missed like ALL of last year. Hehe, they're probably gonna have to repeat a grade. But you, Miss Kairi! I expected better of you!" Kairi wasn't listening to Selphie, and started to row away. "Hey, Kairi! C'mon! I was kidding. Are you really gonna ditch?!"

"See you later, Selphie."

"Something's going on. You're acting weird. Are Sora and Riku leaving again? Are you going to say goodbye to them? Where did they go last time? Kairi! Fine, don't answer! I'm coming to the island after school! I don't care if I have to swim there, but I will! I'm gonna figure out what's going on!"

Kairi was too far away to respond, and she didn't want to answer anyway. She thought she had left early enough to avoid other people, but it was a school day apparently, so a lot of people would be up around then. Selphie wouldn't really swim to the island, would she? She was just trying to get Kairi to go to school, right? Kairi didn't know, and decided she didn't care. They would wake Sora up before Selphie had the chance to get there.

She watched Selphie get smaller and smaller until she was a tiny speck, then stared up at the sky until the dock of the island came into view. Riku's boat was tied up, as she suspected. She tied up her boat as well, but in a quick sloppy knot. The boat wouldn't drift very far if it came undone.

She raced onto the beach, then noticed Riku. He wasn't in the shack, but up on the platform leaning against the paopu tree. He turned as she ran across the beach, then jumped down to meet her.

"How's Sora?" Kairi huffed. All that rowing, plus the running, was a workout.

"I don't know. I haven't gone in. Donald and Goofy don't even know I'm on the island."

"Why didn't you go in? And how did you get up there without going in the Seaside Shack?"

"I jumped. I thought it'd be good to go with you."

"Really, why don't you want to go in there?"

"I...Sora's been my friend for a long time, Kairi. I don't like watching him suffer. Especially since I've made him, and you, suffer before." He turned towards the sea, so they weren't looking at each other. "Maybe if we hadn't wanted to see other worlds, this wouldn't have happened. Any of it."

"Riku, you can't blame yourself for this. If we hadn't done anything that we did, we wouldn't know Donald and Goofy, or the King. If we hadn't done anything, the worlds would be plunged into darkness, and everyone would be a Heartless. If we hadn't done anything, I wouldn't know where I came from. Can we stop with the depressing 'It's my fault' ideas? I feel like thats everything we've talked about in the last week."

"Yeah, we can stop."

"Now I'm all sad."

"Are you really trying to be sarcastic right now?"

"No... I really am." She started to cry again. Riku turned when he heard her sniffle, then wrapped her in his arms. "Why do I keep crying?" She mumbled into his shirt.

"I don't think you should go in there, either. Just for a while. Go calm down a little bit, and then we'll go in together."

"Kay." She pulled back from his embrace, sniffled, wiped her tears, and then slowly walked back toward the dock. Riku watched her go with a heavy feeling in his chest, then jumped back up onto the bridge and took his place at the paopu tree.

Kairi walked barefoot all around the island. Through the tree house, under the bridge, around the wooden fence (so she wouldn't have to go through the Seaside Shack), and over to the cove where they used to keep that small raft they were going to explore the worlds with. She jumped up on the green bushes, past the star, and took the secret path to get back to the other side of the fence. It led out by the tree house.

She walked over to the small waterfall, and looked out towards the paopu tree. Riku was still there. What was he thinking about? He had been there for such a long time, unless he moved while she was in the cove, but it didn't look like he had moved an inch. How could he sit still like that with all that was going on?

She turned her mind away from that. She was supposed to be calming down, after all. But Sora wouldn't leave her mind, so she decided to think about happy times.

The dark entrance of the Secret Place always made Kairi disoriented. Sora always led her through the tiny tunnel that led into the open cave, otherwise she would hit her head as soon as she left the open sky behind. As soon as she entered she smacked her nose on a large stone boulder.

"Ouch!" She rubbed her nose and started to crouch-walk through the tunnel, spreading her hands in front of her to keep from running into walls again. As the open space came into view, she caught a glimpse of the wooden door at the far end of the cave and a shiver ran down her spine. That was one memory she refused to let resurface completely.

Instead, she turned to the cave wall. That drawing she had made with Sora, oh so long ago, was that how it looked before? The drawing had been Sora and her, smiling and laughing. But now Sora was giving her a paopu fruit. That wasn't there the last time she checked. But then again, the last time she checked was over a year ago. Had Sora come in here and drawn this recently? No. It was too faded. So he must've drawn it before everything happened. Before he even knew what he was. She knelt down in front of the drawing for a long time, feeling the texture of the rock that had been chipped under their picture, and thinking that she and Sora would finish this picture together.

Before she left, Kairi picked up a small stone and chipped away at the rock a bit more. Now she was giving Sora a paopu fruit too. That was how it should be.

Riku was still leaning against the paopu tree when she came out of the Secret Place. She returned to the spot she had been standing on earlier that morning.

"Riku?" He turned his head. "I'm ready. Are you?"

He nodded, then jumped down and took her hand. "Let's go."


	8. Chapter 8

Goofy and Donald were spread out on the sandy floor, snoring so loudly they would've woken Sora up under normal conditions. Of course, this wasn't anything normal, so Sora was still asleep.

Kairi ran to his side, inspecting him for any new injuries. "He's okay, I don't think they're fighting anymore. Maybe they're talking it out." She glanced hopefully at Riku.

"I don't think so, Kai. Think of WHO he's fighting." His expression revealed just how worried he was. Kairi had always thought that he was pretty stoic, but she realized he was starting to lose it. This was just as traumatic for him as it was for her, and she had been leaning on him for support.

"Maybe we should wake Donald up, and I can go back into Sora's mind and see what's going on."

"We have no idea what's happening, I don't know if you should go back alone."

"Then come with me." She put on her best smile, batted her eyelashes at him, and walked over to Donald, who was curled up against the opposite wall. Before she had the chance to wake him up, something outside the slightly ajar door caught her attention.

"Kairi, what's wrong?" He came and stood beside her, following her eyes to the door.

"There's something out there." She cautiously stepped over Donald and preceded to the door, opening it slightly. "Holy crap!" Her hand flew to her mouth and she backed away from the door, tripping over Donald and into Riku.

Riku caught her, righted her, and started toward the door himself. "What is it?"

"Riku! Stop! It's Xemnas!" She whisper screamed and reached for him. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"That's impossible. Sora and I defeated him together." He continued walking, pulled the door wide open, and walked onto the beach. Kairi followed close behind, debating whether she should cling to his shirt or not.

The menacing, silver haired man stood on the shore, looking out to sea. As always, he was dressed in the black cloak known as Organization XIII's uniform, but he seemed much younger than either of them remembered. He turned as they approached. "Ah, Riku, Kairi! So nice to see you! How's my dear Sora doing?"

"What did you do to him, Xemnas?! Your dark heart cannot control him, his light is too strong!" Riku summoned his Keyblade and stood in a battle-ready stance.

"You have mistaken me, my boy. I am not Xemnas. I am Xehanort, the fully human body from which that Nobody came. Did you think my two halves would not come together again? Silly child." He slowly came closer to Riku and Kairi, until he was only a few feet away. "Of course, this is not my true form, either."

"What do you mean?" Riku gently elbowed Kairi, and they both backed a few feet away.

"We cannot go into such details now, boy, for I have a heart to claim." Xehanort extended his hand in front of him. A dark mass shot out from his fingertips, forcing Riku and Kairi off their feet and slamming them into the sand. He walked past them as they struggled to stand, then into the Seaside Shack.

A moment later, Donald and Goofy were thrown out the door with the same dark force. They landed with a painful thud on top of both Riku and Kairi, then scooted off as quickly as possible. As soon as there was moving space, Riku shot off the ground and bolted into the shack. Kairi, Donald, and Goofy raced after him, Kairi making it to the door first.

Riku stood in front of Sora like a barricade. He held his Keyblade up in a defensive stance and locked eyes with Xehanort, waiting for his move. Xehanort simply smiled and folded his arms across his chest.

"It seems you believe that you can stop me. If you really think so, perhaps you should approach this situation differently. If I were you, I wouldn't stand with my back to Sora."

Riku hesitated, then craned his neck to glance behind him, keeping his Keyblade held high. Kairi, Donald, and Goofy stepped farther into the room and looked behind him. All eyes were on Sora.


	9. Chapter 9

His eyes were open. OPEN! Kairi clutched at her heart in relief. Sora was okay! She started to step toward him, then realized that no one else was getting nearer. She slowed to a stop a few feet away from Riku, where she could get a good look at Sora's face. His eyes were not the right color. They were an eerie, bright golden color.

"Sora!" Riku turned around completely, lowering his Keyblade only slightly. Xehanort stepped up beside him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Riku tensed and swung his Keyblade. Xehanort merely stepped aside.

"Stand, my boy. We have much to do." As Xehanort spoke, Sora sat up on the swingy hammock and wiped some of the blood off of his face. As Xehanort stepped away from Riku, Sora got up and followed him. They walked to the door of the shack.

As Sora passed her with no emotion, Kairi reached out to grasp his hand. He did not respond to her touch, and a jolt ran through her as he walked past. He walked out the door and onto the beach, his footprints in the sand and the blood dripping from his wounds marking his path.

"XEHANORT!" Riku screamed at the top of his lungs and charged out the door, Kairi and the others following behind. He was met with golden eyes peering closely into his, and the swing of a blade crashing against his. Sora had lost control. Vanitas had won. Riku stared into the face of a best friend, but into the eyes of an evil creature. "Sora, show me you're still there." He whispered.

"Vanitas! Come! We must form the X-Blade!" Xehanort turned to look with an expression of clear annoyance. Sora lessened the pressure of his Keyblade, then walked and stood beside Xehanort.

Kairi couldn't stand watching this. She pushed past Riku and carefully inched closer to Sora. "Sora, I know how tired you must be. I know that you don't want to fight anymore. But I know that you don't want to be consumed by darkness. Your heart is full of light, and you protect the light. You protect me, Sora. I don't want it any other way." She stopped inches away from him, slightly afraid he might hurt her.

But he just stood there. His golden eyes poured into her soul, and she wondered if he could look through Sora's memories, his feelings. She drew in a breath, and mustered up some courage, then grasped his hand. He didn't move, didn't flinch, but she did. His hands were ice cold. She ignored it and led his hand to his pocket, where he found her Wayfinder, made from Thalassa shells and decorated with a small portrait of Sora.

"Remember the first time I gave this to you?" Kairi watched his eyes as he held it in his hand, running his thumb over the ridges of the shells. The bright gold in his eyes had become watered down and murky. She could tell Vanitas was rushing through Sora's memories, but she knew Sora could hear her, too.

"VANITAS! COME, NOW!" Sora jumped, his eyes widening and turning bright gold again. He dropped the Wayfinder in the sand and looked at Kairi.

"I can see why Sora fought so hard. He has a place here with you." Vanitas whispered to her, then turned to follow Xehanort. Kairi watched with tears in her eyes, and Riku was too shocked to move. Donald and Goofy ran after them, but Riku spread out his arm and held them back.

"He's not gonna come back to us if Kairi can't win him over, guys." Riku spoke with a strained voice, and his eyes were red and watery. Donald and Goofy stopped beside him and watched Sora walk away.

Suddenly, Sora crumpled to the ground. Kairi ran to him as fast as she could, not caring that Xehanort was coming to him as well. He started to sit up as she kneeled down next to him, and he turned to her. She gasped and drew him close in a hug. She wasn't looking at golden eyes anymore, only the beautiful blue that she would never stop loving.

'Kairi..." He whispered into her ear, and wrapped his arms around her. She cried into his spiky brown hair. "I don't think I'll be able to control Vanitas for long, just kill me now."

"No. Never, Sora. You will be able to control him, I know it. You are so strong, so filled with light. He could never take you." She brought her face away from his hair and looked into his eyes. Even as she assured him he could win, she could see him slipping. He looked so tired, so ready to sleep.

"Well, this is all very touching, but I would like to get back on schedule." Kairi looked up to see Xehanort looming behind Sora. She turned, and there was Riku, right behind her to protect her and Sora both. "I know you can still hear me, Vanitas, so get ready for plan B."

Sora tensed at hearing those words, and his grip on Kairi tightened. She could see that he was scared. She was too. Riku knelt down next to them and spoke quietly to Sora, saying he didn't have to fight anymore. Riku intended to take care of Xehanort before he could do Sora more harm.

Riku stood and pulled his Keyblade into a battle ready stance, staring at Xehanort with a death glare. He slowly advanced as Xehanort watched with a bemused look.

"This silly child's play bores me." Xehanort sighed, raised his arm, and sent a force slamming into Riku. He was forced off of his feet and into the sand more than ten feet away. He laid there and groaned, a deep and dark pain shooting through every fiber of his body. Then Xehanort grasped Sora's shoulder. "Now, let us commence with plan B."


	10. Chapter 10

Sora sat rigid on the ground, hoping Xehanort couldn't pull him away. Kairi kneeled next to him, gripping his hands tightly and watching Xehanort's hand on his shoulder. Riku still laid motionless on the sand, Donald and Goofy trying to help him. Sora flinched as Xehanort's hand tightened.

"Are you sure you really want to resist me, Sora?" Xehanort leaned down and whispered into his ear. "This might be extremely painful." Sora turned his head and locked eyes with Xehanort's eerie golden ones, but didn't respond.

"Very well then, you leave me no choice. I really was hoping to avoid this..." Xehanort released Sora's shoulder and stepped a few paces away. Everyone else remained as they were, too anxious to do anything. He raised his hands and spoke, "I call upon the power of darkness...To bring you an old friend."

Farther down the beach, a black mist began to form, revealing a portal. Suddenly, something tumbled out of it and into the sand. It layed there, too far away for anyone to tell what it was. Sora stared at it, turning over in his mind what it could be, but not daring to move any closer to find out. It was large enough to be a person, or some kind of heartless or nobody...or even an unversed. He had never fought one of those before.

"Now, Sora. Don't be rude! Go on and help your guest up!" Xehanort gripped Sora's shoulder tightly and thrust him forward. Kairi gasped and fell back, jolted be the force of it. Goofy and Donald finally got Riku to come around at the same time and he raced over to Kairi and helped her up.

Sora fell into the sand, still too weak to stand up. He rolled onto his back and sighed heavily, so ready to give in. He could still feel Vanitas fighting to obey his master Xehanort, to go over to the creature on the other side of the beach. Xehanort towered over him. Sora could tell that Xehanort was done messing around, and he was reaching down to grasp Sora's neck when he was knocked to the sand.

"Riku!" Sora panted as he was pulled to a sitting position by Riku, who had smashed Xehanort aside with his Keyblade. Riku and Kairi knelt beside him. Kairi grasped Sora's hand and Riku kept an eye on Xehanort as he slowly rose from the sandy ground. Goofy and Donald hurried over and pointed to the other end of the beach, trembling and too afraid to speak.

"Sora!" Riku took his shoulders and turned him around as they followed the pointing fingers of Donald and Goofy. The creature on the sand was waking up, moving. It raised it's head. "It's only a person..." Riku sighed heavily as he identified two human eyes blinking in the bright light. He was just about to release Sora and deal with Xehanort when he felt Sora's shoulders tighten. "...Sora?"

"That's...That's...No, it can't be..." He pushed Riku's hands off of his shoulders and struggled to stand up. He was so dizzy from the loss of blood and the constant struggle with Vanitas trying to gain control, but he had to get over there.

"Sora, hold on! You'll hurt yourself!" Riku caught him as he stumbled, and suppressed a gasp. Sora's eyes were two different shades of blue. Kairi stepped up beside him and did gasp when she saw.

"He's caught between two states of mind." Xehanort spoke as he approached them. Kairi inched in front of Sora and Riku tightened his grip, keeping Sora up. "As you know, there are four people in Sora's heart at this moment. Him, Vanitas, Roxas, and Ventus. Now, which of these four doesn't have blue eyes? Vanitas. Which of these people has eyes a different shade of blue than either of the ones you see? Roxas. Two of the people in Sora's heart have memories of this person, and you should too." He glanced at Riku and Kairi. "But maybe you were too young to remember."

Suddenly, as if the words were some kind of magic spell, memories began to pour into Riku's head, and he collapsed to the ground. He let Sora fall, and Kairi fell down next to him.

"I remember!" Both Kairi and Riku shouted at the same time, while Sora began to drag himself across the sand. They stood and supported Sora, bringing him over to the crumpled form on the beach. He kneeled down and hugged the injured person. Sora's eyes were now a lighter shade than normal, and when he spoke his voice was different, more like Roxas's. There was definitely someone else in control now.

"Aqua." He breathed, and tears began to slip from his eyes. She slumped against him and sighed into his chest.

"Ven, I know it's you." Aqua began to cry too. "I've been roaming the darkness for so long, I didn't think I would ever find you again. And your body is still asleep, isn't it. Well, Sora, if you can still hear me, thank you for taking care of Ven's heart. You did a good job. Honestly, it's kinda weird not seeing you as a little kid. You're all grown up now, it looks like you're Ven's age...or how old Ven was last time I saw him. Time has passed, but it froze for us. But...How did I get here?"

"Xehanort found you in the passages of darkness and brought you here." Sora rested his head against hers and closed his eyes, still controlled by Ventus. "I don't know why, though, because he was trying to lure Sora into forming the X-Blade. It doesn't make sense that he would reunite us."

"I know..." Riku grimaced. "It just hit me. Ventus has a stronger connection to Vanitas, and now that he's consciously in control of a physical body that Vanitas has already entered, it will make it so much easier to form the X-Blade. Just because it's not Ventus's own body doesn't mean it won't work with his mind controlling it."

Sora lifted his head and stared at him, Ventus's eyes glinting somberly. Aqua sat up and sighed. She lifted her head and scanned the beach, stopping coldly when she spotted Xehanort standing on the beach watching her.

"Terra." She sighed heavily, letting all the time she spent in the darkness come out in her voice. He approached slowly, until he was only a few feet away.

"Aqua, it's been a while. While you were limping along in the darkness, I've been busy. I was split up into a heartless and a nobody, then put back together again! How amazing is that? Oh, I've wreaked havoc on these children, especially Sora. It was such fun. And I've never forgot what my true mission was, though I did get quite sidetracked. Now I can return to that mission, and I know it won't fail this time! VANITAS!"

Sora's eyes turned a bright and gruesome gold and he let out a piercing scream. He scrambled off of the ground and retreated to the far corner of the beach. He sunk down again and clutched at his head, sobbing and whimpering. He stopped for a moment and stared at his friends, his eyes flashing a brilliant blue one last time before he lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

"SORA!" Kairi screamed and tried to run to him, but Riku pulled her back. Aqua stood and summoned her Keyblade, Rainfell. She stared gloomily at Sora, then raised Rainfell and faced Xehanort. Everyone turned to face him as he began to speak.

"The fight has begun." He smirked. "If what happened last time is correct, if Ventus wins both he and Sora will sleep. And whose heart will they go to? Certainly not Roxas's, because he is a part of Sora that will get swallowed up in this fight as well. There will be no heart to house them. Either way the fight goes, they're all gone now."

"I'll kill you!" Aqua raged, her eyes lighting up in a death glare. "You ruined everything! You took the only two people I ever cared about away from me, and then you ruined the lives of the people they fought to protect! Everything any of us ever did to defeat you was all a waste! I'm done! I spent over a decade in the darkness, worrying about the two people who complete me, to come back and find that you're still here, still trying to fill the world with the darkness I suffered through! You won't ever stop! Well, here and now, I will defeat you! Though there are people you've hurt that I can't fix, I can make it so you will never hurt anyone ever again!"

She charged toward him, ready to strike. Before she could land a blow, a dark mist shot out of Xehanort's hand and sent her crashing into Sora's unconscious body. Realizing that she could never fight against a man with the face of one of her best friends, she layed down next to Sora and held him. If she wasn't going to fight, at least she could comfort those who were. Riku released Kairi and prepared to fight Xehanort in Aqua's place while she slumped to the ground.

"Donald...Please, can you send me back into Sora's mind?" Kairi began to cry silently, and she crumbled at Donald's feet. "Maybe I can help him fight as some sort of motivation..."

"I'm sorry Kairi, but there's no way I can. Vanitas won't let me in." Donald knelt next to her and began to brush her head. Goofy sat and crossed his legs next to them, keeping a sharp eye on Xehanort's movements. Riku stood still, ready to confront him.

"I'm rather bored of all this talk of fighting and pathetic child's play, boy." Xehanort waved his hands dismissively and passed Riku. Xehanort continued on and stopped at the bodies of Aqua and Sora, paying no attention to the grimace Aqua presented to him. "Ah, Ventus. I don't think you've ever seen your friend Terra in this form before. At least not in person. But nevermind, you can't even see me now."

Suddenly, Sora's eyes snapped open. They were a murky mix of gold and blue, an obvious sign that the fight was dead even. He struggled to sit up, as Aqua supported him.

"I can see you now." When he spoke, it was a mix of all of the voices fighting inside of his heart. The golden glint began to fade. The blue eyed boys were winning. "And we can all see that you don't have all the control. It's a constant struggle between the two of you, just like it is for us now. Terra, I know that you can push him out. We can battle Vanitas, and you can battle Xehanort. I might not be waiting for you when you win, but Aqua will." He looked down at Aqua, the gold in his eyes barely showing.

Though the gold in Xehanort's eyes never wavered, he reached out his hands and grasped Sora's and Aqua's. "I will fight him, for you both. I will win, too." Then he snatched his hands back and stepped away. "Stop it, Ventus! You're giving him strength! VANITAS! MORE POWER!"

Sora's eyes surged with gold, and he fell back to the sand. Kairi couldn't watch this from afar anymore, and she ran to Sora and hugged him.

"I don't care who is in control right now and I don't care if you hurt me." She whispered to him. "All I know is that Sora needs me and that he can feel this." She slipped her fingers under his head and pulled it up. She stared into his bright golden eyes, and brushed her lips across his. "I love you, Sora." She breathed and watched his eyes shock into the brightest blue.

Sora reached into her burning hair and pulled her back to his lips. "I love you, Kairi, and this will be the only time I can tell you." He pulled her body to his and hugged her tightly, burying his face in her fiery hair and letting the tears fall. Then, he went limp in her arms.

"NO!" Xehanort screamed, and pushed Kairi away. He grasped Sora's shirt and held him up. "Vanitas! Gain control! This is not over!" He began to shake Sora's lifeless body, crying out for more power, more control. A black mist formed around Sora's body. It solidified and Vanitas face planted in the sand. "Vanitas! You have failed me again! The X-Blade was almost in my grasp!"

Suddenly, he dropped Sora into Kairi's open arms, falling back and covering his face. He landed with a loud thud on the sand, only momentarily muffling the sounds of his screams.

"Terra! NO!" He rolled around, thrashing randomly, until finally he layed still. "I told Ventus we would both win, and I intend to keep my promise." He lifted his hands from his eyes, which were now Terra's own blue ones. The gray began to fade from his hair, and a black mist deposited the real Xehanort onto the shore, right in the middle of a very large wave. He squirmed away from the water and summoned a portal, dragging Vanitas off in his weakened state.

"Terra!" Aqua jumped to her feet and ran to him, landing on top of him in a tight hug. He hugged her back, and they stayed like that for many moments. Riku and the others joined Kairi. She watched them hug with happiness, then turned back to the sleeping boy in her hands with a weight dragging her heart. Riku placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He's gone now, Kai, but he loved you." They both continued to stare down at Sora, who was wrapped in a now peaceful slumber. "Aqua survived without Ventus, so we'll be fine. But it's gonna take time."

As he said this, Riku began to cry too. He had never liked crying, always thought he needed to be strong for the sake of his friends, but now it was okay to cry. Sora would never talk to him again, would never be his sparring partner, his comrade, his friend. That was something worth crying over, to remember everything good about their friendship and to mourn the loss of all the time they could've had. And he knew Kairi felt worse. All of the time that they could've spent falling in love, now that they both knew of their feelings for each other. Maybe they would've grown up and got married, had kids together. Kairi would never know. Neither would Sora.

Riku let Kairi rest her head on his shoulder, and her tears glistened across Sora's face as they dripped down from her eyes. He brought a hand up and started to pet her head, doing the little he could to try to comfort her, even though he knew it wouldn't work. He swept his eyes across all of those gathered near them: Donald and Goofy huddled close and sobbing hard, Aqua reaching out a hand to hold one of Sora's, and Terra refusing to leave Aqua's side after he conquered his own darkness. At least they had a happy ending, though there was a large chunk of it missing. Ventus had now lost his heart in Sora's body, and there was no way to save either of them.

After a long time filled with somber silence, Aqua was the first to speak.

"I'm gonna go clean up the Seaside Shack a little bit, we'll probably be sleeping there tonight." She stood and began to walk, Terra deciding to come with her.

"Oh! I can help with magic!" Donald squawked, happy to find something to focus on. Riku stood and went off to look for firewood, Goofy accompanying him with a trudge in his walk.

Kairi was left all alone on the beach with the sleeping Sora. She sighed and hugged him closer to her as she watched the sun quickly setting. She watched the ocean waves lapping gently against the shore, and counted all the shells she could see at the water's edge. Finally, she layed Sora down on the sand and layed next to him, about to grasp his hand when she noticed something.

Sora was holding her Wayfinder charm.

"He must've picked it up before Aqua came through the portal, but when did he pull it out of his pocket again?" She folded her hand with his, keeping the Wayfinder locked tight between them. "Well, it doesn't matter now. Oh, Sora, I love you."

Kairi was sure she had imagined it, but Sora just gave her hand a squeeze. She heard a whisper of "I love you." but was sure it was just the wind. She sat up and shook her head, trying to clear it of the crazy things she was experiencing. She gazed at Sora one more time, just to see that peaceful face.

His beautiful blue eyes were open!

Kairi screamed and tackled him, kissing every inch of his face. She would not let go of him, now that he was back.

"But how?" She breathed into his neck. "How are you awake?"

"I don't know." Sora whispered back, and wrapped his arms tightly around her, not willing to let go either.

Kairi's screams attracted attention, and everyone came rushing back onto the beach. Kairi and Sora sat up as everyone began to arrive, but they kept their hands locked together, both hanging on to the Wayfinder with all their strength.

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy screamed, and they raced over to give him hugs. Aqua and Terra stood dumbstruck, mouths open in utter shock and confusion.

"Welcome back, we missed you." Riku said as he clapped Sora on the shoulder and sat down next to him. Sora beamed at everyone, the radiance of his smile cutting through all of the blood and grime from all that he had suffered.

"But I just don't get it," He said. "How can I be awake if Ventus wasn't last time?"

"I know why! Ah-huh-huh!" The chuckle could never be mistaken, this could only be the laugh of the one and only King Mickey. Everyone searched for the source of the voice, until Kairi spotted him on the bridge leading to the Paopu tree. He jumped down onto the sand and scampered over, depositing his Star Shard in one of his many pockets.

"King Mickey!" Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Sora all shouted with smiles on their faces.

"King..." Aqua said, surprised. "You were only in training when you helped us. Forgive us, your highness." She and Terra both bowed, blushing slightly.

"Oh, no need for that!" King Mickey chuckled again and began to explain. "Sora was able to wake up because he had the power of three hearts working against one. Ventus only had one heart, and so he fell asleep."

"So, does that mean that Ventus's heart is now asleep in Sora's body?" Aqua asked with a pang of fear in her voice.

"Oh, no Aqua. But his body is still sleeping right where you put him!"

"Can I save him, Mickey?" Sora blurted out, determination and sadness reflecting through his eyes. "Can we go there and wake him up?"

"I think we just might, Sora!" Mickey beamed at him. "But first, you need rest. And lots of it!"

And with that decided, everyone piled into the small Seaside Shack for a quick meal, then found a cozy spot on the beach for a long rest. Sora fell asleep fairly quicky, exhausted from both the physical and mental battles he had fought. Kairi couldn't sleep, and watched his chest move up and down with each breath he took. He was asleep, but he would wake up.

He did only a few hours later. Kairi still hadn't slept a wink, and Sora could tell by the look on her face.

"Come with me." He whispered, and pulled her out of the sand. They made their way through the dark to the entrance of the secret cave. They looked at each picture they had drawn together, before everything had started. Finally, they came to the picture of them sharing a paopu fruit. "I want to add something."

Kairi sat down next to Sora and watched as he carved something new into the rock. When he was finished, she began to cry. He had carved their Wayfinder into the rock, the chain being held by both Sora and herself.

Kairi swept Sora into a hug and cried into his shoulder. He pulled her face up to meet his, and they kissed, filling each other with the light each had saved for the other.

"I love you." They whispered together.


End file.
